AFL distances itself from gay claim

Amy Redford-Hunt

FOOTY changing rooms would be a safe and accepting place for an ''out and proud'' AFL footballer, coaches and the league said yesterday - rejecting claims to the contrary by Jason Akermanis.

The row fired up on the day a new report revealed the extent of homophobia in team sport in Australia.

In a Herald Sun column, Akermanis said the AFL was not ready for homosexual players and that they should ''forget about'' coming out. ''I believe it would cause discomfort in that environment should someone declare himself gay,'' he said.

Akermanis defended his remarks, telling Channel Nine that he was not homophobic but it would be unsafe for a player to come out in the AFL.

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He said he had no problem with gay footballers, saying he knew a gay player in Queensland who was ''a terrific guy'' and ''tough and courageous''. ''I'm ready. I'm fine with it all.''

Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade denied that homosexual players would be unsafe if they were to come out, and the club distanced itself from Akermanis's comments.

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''[The comments were] certainly not reflective of what we think as a club,'' Eade said.

Sydney coach Paul Roos described Akermanis's comments as ''reasonably irresponsible''. ''If it had have been written in 1943 or something like that, you could have been forgiven. But in 2010, to hear something like that is just bizarre.''

The AFL said the game was open to anyone, regardless of sexual orientation. ''Jason Akermanis is entitled to express his opinion, but I don't believe it reflects the views of clubs, players and officials involved in the AFL and the broader football community,'' AFL boss Andrew Demetriou said.

AFL Players Association general manager of culture and leadership Pippa Grange helped organise the association's campaign against homophobia. Dr Grange, a psychologist, said she did not like what was published, but ''at least people are talking about it''.

Former NRL star Ian Roberts, Australia's first top-level rugby league player to declare his homosexuality, expressed dismay. Writing today in The Age sport section, Roberts says the argument by Akermanis that ''straight players should be nervous about gay players in the showers is just plain embarrassing - for him''.

Olympic swimmer Daniel Kowalski, who has outed himself as gay, told Triple M: ''I'm disappointed, I'm mad, I'm angry, I'm sad.'' He also spoke at the launch of a Victoria University report into homophobia in sport.

The report, which surveyed 307 gay men and women, found they were reluctant to out themselves to teammates because there was an ''unsafe, unpredictable, isolating and intimidating'' culture. Nearly half were not out as gay to anyone and 42 per cent had experienced homophobic abuse in sport. .

Bohdan Abrat, 34, welcomed the report, saying he had experienced discrimination in school and beyond when playing sport. ''I've tended to not participate in team sports because of the pressure that's put on you to conform to being a straight male.

''I used to find it extremely difficult at high school to fit into the cricket team even though I absolutely loved cricket because I was told I threw like a girl. He plays netball now, which he finds more inclusive.